State Legislature Approves Economic Development Bill

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BARNSTABLE – Provincetown State Representative Sarah Peake joined her colleagues in the House of Representatives to approve an economic development bill this week.

The final version of the bill awaits further approval by Governor Charlie Baker.

Peake helped obtain $300,000 of funding to enable real world testing of an innovative and inexpensive septic system technology that may lower the cost of water quality compliance on Cape Cod and elsewhere.

“We’re always looking for ways to tackle our Cape-wide wastewater management issues, like the 208 plan, in the most affordable way possible,” said Peake.

Barnstable County is investigating a passive low energy sustainability technology that uses sawdust and other wood waste and byproducts to remove nitrogen from wastewater from onsite septic systems.

The modification promises a low-cost way to mitigate the pollution from nitrogen in wastewater and help restore impacted marine resource areas like shellfishing, fishing and recreational areas.

“This method grabs the nitrogen out of the soil and captures it before it finds its way into our rivers and abatements and clogs them up with algae blooms and all those kinds of things,” said Peake.